Ghyll:Fefferberry

Bless my stars and garters! Dibbed! --Doctor Phineas Crank 07:48, 14 Oct 2004 (EDT)

Also known as; Bull's Bush, Pizzle Bush, and Andelphracia's Bush

Identification and Field Marks: The fefferberry is a rambling bramble of a bush in the What-Is-That-Awful-Smell family which grows in almost every nook and cranny in Ghyll. There are a number of varieties of fefferberry, only some of which are usefull (see below). All varieties, however, share some similar traits. For instance, the stalk of all fefferberry bushes are a deep, bloody red with a fine network of pale blue veins and have the scrambling habit of throwing off dense arching stems carrying short curved very sharp spines, the branches rooting from the node tip when they reach the ground. It has palmate leaves of 3 - 5 leaflets which are a rich emerald green and have white veins that form a lightning-like pattern. The fefferberry flowers are generally white or pink with the faintest of blue and red tracings through them.

Of special note is the terrible smell which rotting fefferberries make. They have been compared to rotting flesh, in particular the rotting flesh left over from making Sarfelogian Mountain Oysters from poor, unsuspecting bulls. It is this peculiarity that gives the fefferberry bush some of its more "unfortunate" nicknames.

Bloom Period: Fefferberries can be found in bloom by early Darwina and their blooming is often celebrated as a rite of Spring. The flowers fall off in late Fusil resulting in a luminous blue fruit, the fefferberries themselves, which ripen to perfection in early Ikk. Fefferberry bushes grow almost constantly, however, no matter the season.

Similar Species: others like it (good for phantoms)

Habitat: where

Economic Importance: if any